Epidemiology Commons^™

A Genetic Epidemiologic Investigation Of Breast Cancer Susceptibility, Cristy Ellen Stagnar

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Introduction

Factors Associated With Solving Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Clusters In New York State Outside Of New York City, 2008-2012, Madhu Anand

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Motivation and Rationale

Analysis Of Strategies For Successful Identification, Reporting, And Prevention Of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (Cre) In Acute Health Care Facilities In New York State, Christen Leigh Mayer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background

Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile Of Asian Indians In The U.S. : Analysis Of Data From The Diabetes Among Indian Americans Study, Sanghamitra Siddharam Savadatti

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation sought to investigate the associations between health promoting lifestyle behaviors and chronic cardiometabolic conditions among Asian Indians residing in the U.S.

Correlates Of Life-Time History Of Purchasing Sex Services By Men In Saint Petersburg And Leningrad Oblast, Russian Federation, Polina Girchenko

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background. Commercial sex workers (CSW) in Russian Federation are at high risk of HIV infection and transmission as a result of unsafe sexual and injecting behaviors. Their clients might be at increased risk of acquiring HIV; however, little is known about the population of men purchasing sex services. This study’s goal is to investigate factors associated with a history of purchasing sex services by men in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, Russian Federation.

Study Of Human Ovarian Follicular Fluid High Density Lipoprotein (Hdl) And Embryo Quality During In Vitro Fertilization (Ivf), Keewan Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Follicular fluid (FF) is in direct contact with granulosa cells that surround a developing oocyte, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) is the sole lipoprotein found in FF. Therefore, we investigated 41 FF HDL particle components, including 26 HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) subfractions measured for particle size, apolipoproteins, enzymes, and lipophilic micronutrients, in association with embryo quality on 180 women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Crash Risk Associated With Cellular Phone Use While Driving, Tiffani Ann Fordyce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are inconsistencies in the published literature on the effect of cellular phone use while driving. The objective of this study was to estimate an adjusted nationwide crash rate associated with cell phone use while driving and to compare statewide crash rates prior to and following the implementation of legislation banning cell phone use while driving. Crash rates in nationally representative databases were calculated based on imputed values for cell phone use using the propensity score method. The imputed nationwide crash rate for fatal crashes (1.61 per 100 fatal crashes) and all crashes (1.409 per 100 crashes) represented a 2 …

Longitudinal Association Between Television Watching, Computer Use And Meal Frequency And Risk Markers In Diabetes Among Youth With Diabetes, Chao Li

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Television watching and computer use are considered to be the main sedentary behaviors in children and youth. However, their longitudinal impact on HbA1c and serum lipids among youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are under-studied. Sedentary behavior is normally assessed by questionnaire in large epidemiological studies, however, its measurement by questionnaire has not been evaluated among youth with diabetes. Also, no recent studies have evaluated the optimal meal frequency for glycemic control in youth with T1D and T2D; for this reason nutritional guidelines on meal frequency for youth with diabetes are vague. …

Age-Related Factors Influencing The Occurrence Of Undernutrition In Northeastern Ethiopia, Abraham Degarege, Elifaged Hailemeskel, Berhanu Erko

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is a major public health problem on the globe particularly in the developing regions. The objective of the current study was to assess the prevalence of undernutrition in different age groups and examine the relationship of the disease to parasitic and socioeconomic factors among communities in Harbu Town, northeastern Ethiopia.

METHODS: Stool samples of the study participants were examined for intestinal helminth infections using the Kato-Katz method. Blood specimens were diagnosed for Plasmodium infection using CareStartTM Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test. The blood type was determined from blood samples using antisera A and antisera B. In addition, the height …

La Paradoja Hispana Epidemiológica: Investigando Las Preconcepciones Y Generalizaciones, Maya H. Sandalow

CMC Senior Theses

En los Estados Unidos, los latinos suelen tener menos acceso a la educación, el trabajo, y el seguro médico en comparación con los blancos no-latinos, pero aun así el grupo parece superar ciertos obstáculos de la salud. Las estadísticas de la población latina muestran mayor longevidad y otras tasas favorables en comparación con los blancos no-latinos. Los expertos han titulado esta contradicción “La Paradoja Hispana Epidemiológica”.

Desafortunadamente, la investigación de la paradoja está llena de generalizaciones y presuposiciones erróneas sobre la población latina diversa. Esta tesis investiga los participantes que producen generalizaciones sobre la supuesta paradoja para mostrar que estas …

Mining Mobile Datasets To Enable The Fine-Grained Stochastic Simulation Of Ebola Diffusion, Nicholas Vogel, Christopher Theisen, Jonathan P. Leidig, Jerry Scripps, Doug H. Graham, Greg Wolffe

Peer Reviewed Articles

The emergence of Ebola in West Africa is of worldwide public health concern. Successful miti- gation of epidemics requires coordinated, well-planned intervention strategies that are specific to the pathogen, transmission modality, population, and available resources. Modeling and sim- ulation in the field of computational epidemiology provides predictions of expected outcomes that are used by public policy planners in setting response strategies.

Developing up to date models of population structures, daily activities, and movement has proven challenging for developing countries due to limited governmental resources. Recent collaborations (in 2012 and 2014) with telecom providers have given public health researchers access to …

Medication Misadventures: The Case Of Benzodiazepines, Sarah E. Wixson

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

For patients afflicted with symptoms of anxiety and insomnia, benzodiazepines are generally a safe and effective short-term pharmacological treatment option. Although considered safer than other sedative-hypnotic medications, substantial concern exists regarding the addictive nature and abuse potential of benzodiazepines along with potentially inappropriate prescribing and utilization in clinically vulnerable populations. These medication misadventures can have a significant impact on public health. Examples of medication misadventures as they pertain to benzodiazepines include the prescribing and use in clinically vulnerable populations for whom they are contraindicated or their efficacy has not been evaluated, the development of tolerance or addiction, abuse of the …

Developments In Nonparametric Regression Methods With Application To Raman Spectroscopy Analysis, Jing Guo

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Raman spectroscopy has been successfully employed in the classification of breast pathologies involving basis spectra for chemical constituents of breast tissue and resulted in high sensitivity (94%) and specificity (96%) (Haka et al, 2005). Motivated by recent developments in nonparametric regression, in this work, we adapt stacking, boosting, and dynamic ensemble learning into a nonparametric regression framework with application to Raman spectroscopy analysis for breast cancer diagnosis. In Chapter 2, we apply compound estimation (Charnigo and Srinivasan, 2011) in Raman spectra analysis to classify normal, benign, and malignant breast tissue. We explore both the spectra profiles and their derivatives to …

Nonlinear Hierarchical Models For Longitudinal Experimental Infection Studies, Michael David Singleton

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Experimental infection (EI) studies, involving the intentional inoculation of animal or human subjects with an infectious agent under controlled conditions, have a long history in infectious disease research. Longitudinal infection response data often arise in EI studies designed to demonstrate vaccine efficacy, explore disease etiology, pathogenesis and transmission, or understand the host immune response to infection. Viral loads, antibody titers, symptom scores and body temperature are a few of the outcome variables commonly studied. Longitudinal EI data are inherently nonlinear, often with single-peaked response trajectories with a common pre- and post-infection baseline. Such data are frequently analyzed with statistical methods …

Being Ready To Treat Ebola Virus Disease Patients, David Brett-Major, Shevin T. Jacob, Frederique A. Jacquerioz, George F. Risi, William A. Fischer, Yasuyuki Kato, Catherine F. Houlihan, Ian Crozier, Henry Kyobe Bosa, James V. Lawler, Takuya Adachi, Sara K. Hurley, Louise E. Berry, John C. Carlson, Thomas C. Button, Susan L. Mclellan, Barbara J. Shea, Gary G. Kuniyoshi, Mauricio Ferri, Srinivas G. Murthy, Nicola Petrosillo, Francois Lamontagne, David T. Porembka, John S. Schieffelin, Lewis Rubinson, Tim O'Dempsey, Suzanne M. Donovan, Daniel G. Bausch, Robert A. Fowler, Thomas E. Fletcher

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

As the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa continues, clinical preparedness is needed in countries at risk for EVD (e.g., United States) and more fully equipped and supported clinical teams in those countries with epidemic spread of EVD in Africa. Clinical staff must approach the patient with a very deliberate focus on providing effective care while assuring personal safety. To do this, both individual health care providers and health systems must improve EVD care. Although formal guidance toward these goals exists from the World Health Organization, Medecin Sans Frontières, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and …

Prevalence Of Schistosoma Haematobium Infection Among School-Age Children In Afar Area, Northeastern Ethiopia, Abraham Degarege, Zeleke Mekonnen, Bruno Levecke, Mengistu Legesse, Yohannes Negash, Jozef Vercruysse, Berhanu Erko

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

In this study, the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma haematobium infection was determined among school-age children living in the Middle and Lower Awash Valley, Afar Regional State of Ethiopia. Between February and May 2014, urine samples were collected from 885 school-age children (5-16 years of age) from the Middle (n = 632; 4 villages) and Lower (n = 253; 3 villages) Awash Valley. All samples were processed using urine filtration to detect and quantify S. haematobium eggs. In addition, a subset of the urine samples was tested for hematuria using a urine dipstick (n = 556). The overall prevalence was …

Assessment Of The Impact Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder On Type 1 Diabetes, Kellee Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individual day-to-day management and effective control of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is ultimately driven by decisions made by the individual. Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a higher tendency to be inattentive, impulsive, and hyperactive. Attention deficits and impulsivity among adolescents and adults with T1D could result in poor diabetes management through infrequent self-monitoring of blood glucose and inadequate insulin dosing – key components of achieving optimal glycemic control.

This study included 7,380 adolescents and young adults, ages 13-25 years, participating in the T1D Exchange clinic registry (median age 17.4 years, duration 7.7 yrs, 50% female, 81% white). …

Influence Of Environmental Exposure On Human Epigenetic Regulation, C. J. Marsit

Dartmouth Scholarship

Environmental toxicants can alter epigenetic regulatory features such as DNA methylation and microRNA expression. As the sensitivity of epigenomic regulatory features may be greatest during the in utero period, when critical windows are narrow, and when epigenomic profiles are being set, this review will highlight research focused on that period. I will focus on work in human populations, where the impact of environmental toxicants in utero, including cigarette smoke and toxic trace metals such as arsenic, mercury and manganese, on genome-wide, gene-specific DNA methylation has been assessed. In particular, arsenic is highlighted, as this metalloid has been the focus …

Promoting Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Haitian Americans, Steven S. Coughlin, Erica I. Lubetkin, Jennifer L. Hay, Renald Raphael, Selina A. Smith

Publications and Research

Background

Few studies have examined colorectal cancer screening among Haitian Americans, although striking disparities in colorectal cancer screening and mortality are well-documented among U.S. Blacks. Race, socioeconomic status, and place of birth are factors associated with colorectal cancer incidence and mortality patterns.

Methods

In this article, we summarize published studies on colorectal cancer screening among Haitian Americans, identified through bibliographic searches in PubMed and CINAHL through August 2015, and offer recommendations for further research.

Results

Only one qualitative study and three quantitative surveys have examined colorectal cancer screening among Haitian Americans. A qualitative study found important differences in perceptions of …

Sociodemographic Predictors Of Medication Nonadherence Among Latinos Diagnosed With Diabetes Type Ii, Bianca L. Tristan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Latinos of low socioeconomic status are disproportionately affected by diabetes Type II complicated by poor adherence to diabetes Type II medications and management programs. Self-management of diabetes Type II is a tool used to teach health education to patients with diabetes. The objective of this retrospective quantitative study was to explore if there are predictors of nonadherence to diabetes Type II medications and programs among Latinos with diabetes Type II. Data from 200 patient records from a community clinic in Fresno County California were analyzed using both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Selected sociodemographic independent variables were age, gender, income, migrant …

Increasing Knowledge About Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency In The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Population, Maureen Ann Wentink Barta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of the project was to increase awareness about alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly among those with a familial history of genetic factor AATD; an additional goal was to understand its relationship to COPD. COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States, with more than half of COPD patients experiencing significant disabilities. Major causes for COPD include smoking, air pollution, secondary smoke, upper respiratory infections, hereditary factors, occupational factors, environmental factors, and socioeconomic factors. Genetic factors, however, also play a significant role in early onset COPD and in those …

Investigating The Effect Of Arsenic On Chromium(Vi)-Induced Genotoxicity In Human Lung Fibroblasts, Jason Stewart Ms

All Student Scholarship

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) compounds are well-established human lung carcinogens. Arsenic (As) is a well documented human carcinogen with long term exposure to AS in drinking water being linked to lung, kidney and liver cancer, among others. Co-exposure studies are now becoming more common as humans are not exposed to just one toxicant at a time. This is the first study to investigate the effects of co-exposure with arsenic and soluble or particulate Cr(Vi) compounds in human lung fibroblasts.

Association Of Kidney Stones With Chronic Disease Among Adults In The United States: Considerations By Race-Ethnicity, Lashaunta Marie Glover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: little research has been conducted to describe the relationship between kidney stones and risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke in individuals of different race ethnicities. Purpose: the purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of co-morbidities and to investigate whether there was a statistically significant association between kidney stone formers and increased odds of cardiovascular disease and stroke in race-ethnicity groups. Methods: data from the 2007-2012 cycles of the national health and nutrition examination survey (Nhanes) were used. Survey and biological data used included kidney stone cases, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke. …

Exploring The Association Between Network, Cognitive, Structural Social Capital And The Risk Of Clinical Depression In Taiwan, Yun-Hsuan Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Depression is the one of most common mental health conditions in Taiwan. Although evidence suggests that social capital is associated with depression, few studies have comprehensively explored the influence of social capital on depression. Also evidence in Taiwan is limited in comparison to other Western countries. Data from the 1997 Taiwan Social Change Survey (n=2,598), which is the only dataset that contains the best available information to measure and compare all three dimensions of social capital (network, cognitive, and structural social capital), were used to examine the association between three dimensions of neighborhood- and individual-level social capital and depression among …

The Relationship Of The Mediterranean Diet And The Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (Dash) Style Diet With Cardiometabolic Health, Yong-Moon Park

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Much evidence shows that the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) style diet are associated with risk reduction of cardiometabolic disease as well as lower risk of all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality. A subgroup of obese individuals (metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotype) and normal weight individuals (metabolically obese normal weight (MONW) phenotype) have been identified to have different cardiometabolic risks compared with their counterparts in the same category of body mass index (BMI). Scarce evidence exists demonstrating a relationship between adherence to Mediterranean diet or DASH style diets with MHO and MONW …

Maternal Obesity, Gestational Weight Gain And Offspring’S Asthma, Kristen Polinski

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Obesity is common among women of childbearing age and intrauterine exposures may influence the development of early childhood asthma. A handful of studies have investigated pre-pregnancy obesity, but even fewer have thoroughly explored gestational weight gain as possible childhood asthma risk factors. Gaps remain in the literature and to our knowledge, none have longitudinally explored these relationships in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children.

Methods: We used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort, in which children were followed through age four (n≈5,200). Asthma was based on parent report of a physician’s diagnosis. …

Interpregnancy Weight Change And Adverse Maternal Outcomes, Chelsea Lynes

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity during pregnancy is associated with a high risk of adverse maternal outcomes. Little is known about how weight change between consecutive pregnancies impacts subsequent pregnancy complications and newborn outcomes. This study aimed to explore the association between interpregnancy BMI change and adverse maternal outcomes, specifically, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, non-repeat cesarean delivery (C-section), and vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC). The study sample was derived from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Consecutive Pregnancy Study, which collected data from 20 hospitals in Utah utilizing electronic medical records and International Classification …

Cluster Analysis With Batch Effect, Yifan Tang

Theses and Dissertations

Clustering, as a fundamental process in data science, is frequently used in preliminary data analysis. Batch effects are a powerful source of variation that can come from many sources in data collection, and influence data. We propose a method to simultaneously remove batch effects and perform cluster analysis. We see a batch effect as a fixed value added on to each batch, and do not make assumptions about the distribution of batch effects. We represent the data using a Gaussian mixture model, and use the EM algorithm to estimate the cluster means, the cluster covariance matrices, and the batch effects, …

Soil Arsenic And Lead Concentrations And Preterm Birth: Investigating Racial Disparities, Sources, Neighborhood Effects, And Spatial Patterns, Pamela Harley Thornton Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth, generally defined as birth at <37 weeks of gestation, is an important public health issue that has multiple risk factors related to characteristics of both the mother and her environment. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine potential sources of spatially interpolated (kriged) environmental concentrations of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) in residential soils and preterm birth in a Medicaid population of mothers giving birth in South Carolina (SC) from 1996-2001. The first objective was to investigate if a racial disparity existed for estimated soil As and Pb concentrations, after adjusting for proximal and distal sources of these metals (including distance and direction to industrial facilities) in a subset of SC Medicaid mothers living in areas of SC where soil samples were collected and analyzed for these metals. The second objective was to test the hypothesis that estimated soil As and Pb concentrations were associated with increased odds of early (<34 weeks) and late (34-36 weeks) preterm births in the same subset of SC Medicaid mothers, after adjusting for individual and neighborhood level risk factors, and examine if measure of neighborhood deprivation and racial residential segregation modified these associations. The third objective was to examine if early and all preterm births, aggregated at the county level, varied spatially and/or temporally in SC for all Medicaid mothers giving birth from 1996-2001 in Bayesian models.

For the first objective, black mothers had significantly higher estimated As and Pb soil concentrations than white mothers in the study population (adjusted betas were 0.12 and 0.22 for As and Pb, respectively; all p<0.006), and proximal sources of metals (e.g., percent of Census block group are covered by roads) were more strongly associated with estimated soil As and Pb concentrations than composite As and Pb releases from industrial facilities categorized by distance from and direction to Census block groups in which maternal residences were located.

For the second objective, estimated soil concentration of neither As nor Pb were associated with increased odds of early or late preterm birth after adjusting for maternal and neighborhood level risk factors. Only individual level covariates were associated with these birth outcomes, and associations were stronger for early as compared to late preterm births. Neighborhood deprivation and racial …

Geographic Accessibility To Health Services And Neonatal Mortality Among Very Low Birthweight Infants In South Carolina, Portavia Featherstone

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Infant mortality is commonly denoted as a marker of population health with more than half of all infant deaths occurring during the neonatal period (0-27 days) of infancy. Mortality for infants born very low birthweight (<1500 grams) is markedly higher than the babies born with normal birthweight (2500-4000 grams). The purpose of this research project was to assess geographic access to perinatal health services and the risk of neonatal death among infants born with very low birth weight. Data and methods: The linked birth and death records of a retrospective cohort of very low birthweight (<1500 grams) infants born in South Carolina between the years 2010 and 2012 were used (n=3191). We assessed the impact of travel time from maternal residence to delivery hospital and travel time from maternal residence to the nearest prenatal care provider (obstetricians/gynecologists, community health center, or rural health clinic). Logistic regression modeling was performed with adjustments for maternal characteristics (race, age, chronic/gestational hypertension, chronic/gestational diabetes mellitus, smoking, prenatal care), newborn characteristics (gestational age, birthweight, gender, NICU admission at birth), and the birth in a level III hospital. Results: There were a total of 563 neonatal deaths in this population and the neonatal mortality rate was 17.64 neonatal deaths per 100 live births. We did not find significant associations of travel time from maternal residence to delivery hospital and to a closest prenatal care provider with neonatal death after adjusting for confounders. However, we found that a one-week increase in gestational age (OR: 0.61 [95% CI: 0.57-0.65]) and non-Hispanic Black mothers (versus non-Hispanic White mothers) (OR: 0.65 [95% CI: 0.45-0.94]), were associated with the lower odds of neonatal death, while non-NICU admission at birth (OR: 5.99 [95% CI: 4.05-8.84]) was associated with an increased odds of neonatal death. Conclusion: Although we did not find that travel time was associated with neonatal mortality among very low birthweight infants, our study identified a few significant correlates for neonatal deaths in this birthweight group. Future studies should investigate the role of geographic access to care on mortality during other periods of infancy and among other birthweight groups.